Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira team up for the first time since opening “Avenging Spider-Man” and return to the Marvel Universe. Except this time the focus is on Wolverine! And Spider-Man! And Elektra, too! And a lot of ninja, actually.
Written by Zeb WellsIllustrated by Joe Madureira
• A NEW ARC STARTS HERE!
• (WOLVERINE + ELEKTRA + SPIDER-MAN) x (WELLS + MADUREIRA) – RULES = PAIN.
Ever since Wolverine joined the Avengers, there’s been that one question lingering over the character. “How can Wolverine be an Avenger if he still kills people?” And it’s an interesting question, especially given the ‘Avengers don’t kill’ stance many of the team take in a lot of issues. Well, here, Zeb Wells brings that question to the forefront as he, along with Joe Madureira, attempt to explore the dichotomy of Wolverine the killer and Wolverine the Avenger. It’s an interesting mission statement for a story arc, especially one with Spider-Man and Elektra in tow, but does it really work in their favour?
As evidenced by their previous work in “Avenging Spider-Man”, Wells and Madureira are one of the most well oiled creative machines in comics. Wells’ scripts are fun and action-packed and don’t always take themselves too seriously, allowing Madureira to go a little crazy with his art style in the action scenes. This is all in effect here, with the team getting back together without missing a beat. The story in this new arc of “Savage Wolverine” follows Wolverine, as you’d expect, some time before the change over to the Marvel NOW! era (the recap page has an editor’s note assuring readers the story takes place “at least before last October”) as Elektra appears to him, telling him that they need to take out an enemy. This is a great set-up for a great team-up as Wells positions Elektra firmly on the side of Wolverine the killer while Spider-Man instead is positioned on the side Wolverine the Avenger. It helps Wells explore both sides of Wolverine as he interacts with each character and makes for a very complex look at the character.
While Wells is exploring the dichotomy of Wolverine, though, Madureira instead focuses on bringing Wells’ action scenes to glorious life. It’s true that Madureira’s style can be very divisive amongst readers, but the style has never worked better than here. Madureira’s Wolverine is almost perfect as a character study, making him as short and stocky and hairy and gruff as he should be. Gone are any thoughts of simply making Logan look like Hugh Jackman, replaced with Madureira’ masterful reclamation of classic Wolverine style. Madureira’s style is honestly one of the best to grace the interiors of a “Wolverine” book in a long time and teaming up with Zeb Wells only makes it better. Especially given that Zeb Wells has Madureira drawing Wolverine fighting ninja.
While the issue is definitely about Wolverine, the series being something of a team up anthology allows Wells and Madureira to bring in Elektra and Spider-Man to play with. And because of this story taking place in the past, the team have been given license to use the Amazing Spider-Man, not Superior Spider-Man. Yes, for one story arc only, Peter Parker has returned to Marvel Comics and, as shown by his previous “Spider-Man” work, if there was anyone to do it, it definitely should have been Zeb Wells. Used surprisingly sparingly here, Spider-Man becomes an excellent comic relief foil to Wolverine’s very gruff straight man thanks to Wells’ masterful grasp of the character voice. Though it’s unlikely that Marvel will take back “Superior Spider-Man” any time soon, seeing Wells use old school Peter Parker here was nothing short of a breath of fresh air. It just made this issue that much more enjoyable.
While the issue focuses in part on Wolverine’s time as an Avenger with Spider-Man, the rest of the issue becomes a much darker look at Wolverine as a killer when Elektra shows up. And with Elektra in the book, then the Hand must surely follow. While the issue doesn’t feature direct Wolverine versus ninja action, bringing in Elektra and the Hand lets Wells and Madureira call back to the classic stories of Wolverine and ninja. It lets the creative team take a look at two very distinct, yet definitive parts of Wolverine as a character. And it allows them to set up the villains of the arc as some of the most terrifyingly designed villains to appear in comic books.
While this issue is largely set-up for the story to come, Wells and Madureira bring enough action, humour and heart in their exploration of Wolverine to make it a very enjoyable issue. Wells really has a grasp on Wolverine’s voice that allows him to take a more complex look at the character and having Madureira as a collaborator lets him bring over the top action to the page. Bringing back Peter Parker, however, was this issue’s stroke of genius and really makes it stand out as the start of what should be a very enjoyable arc.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – A great creative team taking on a beloved character and getting it right can only spell more good things coming.
